


They Called Me Paranoid

by RuffedUpRabbit



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Death, Gen, Graphic, Horror, Nightmare, Scary, Violence, dream - Freeform, original - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-21 01:12:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1532096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuffedUpRabbit/pseuds/RuffedUpRabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scarlett, your  average high schooler comes into contact with a creature that slowly forces her to question her choices, life, friends, and much more. Between the every day troubles, and the added troubles Scarlett is trapped into a state of denial, believing this creature to be a hallucination until one day, things get very real. How much will it take for Scarlett to realize that the world around her, is not always what it seems?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Encounter

The cool air of the winter evening stung at my face as I forced my front door open and strode in. I was tired, and high school was stressful, as always. As I glanced around I quickly came to the conclusion that I was alone, again. My parents both worked long hours every day of the week, my mother was a nurse, and my father was lawyer. I have a sister, named Emma, so between the two of us, my parents take good care of us, providing us with what we need, which for me is usually books. I love to read, I love medical books, I recently read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston on my mother’s suggestion. I opened up the fridge and set the large black pot on the stove, turning the fire on low as I waited for the chicken soup to heat up. Harvey, my black lionhead rabbit came hopping up to me as I scratched the back of his furry ears. Harvey had free roam of the house and was litter box trained, he usually slept with me at night on my queen sized mattress. 

 

My name is Scarlett; I am sixteen years old and in my first year of high school, the equivalent being a sophomore in western countries. I have long brown hair with a slender body that compliments my face. I have pale white skin, rather than darker skin like the other citizens here, because my mother came from Canada, and my father from the United States. Both of them are very close to being albino-ishly white, so of course I am as well. I have my ears pierced twice in both lobes, my nostril pierced, and my tongue pierced. However I rarely wear my nose stud anymore, and will probably allow that piercing to heal up. I’ve lived here in Seoul, South Korea my entire life. I am somewhat popular, I’ve got friends and I go places with them, but I prefer to stay home and read, rather than go out and party. 

 

After dinner I glanced at the time, almost five thirty in the afternoon, a couple of my friends would be coming by, a small white boy named Kevin Davis, and a larger Mexican boy, Brian, I wasn’t sure about Brian’s last name, I could not pronounce it. Both of them came over an hour after school every day, unless something came up, to take side English lessons from me My parents taught me Korean and English as I grew up, making me fluent in both. Many kids liked to ask me how to say certain words in English so that they could impress whatever social group they belonged to. Brian and Kevin were both my best friends, I’d met Kevin in elementary school, 6th grade I think. I was the only one who could understand Kevin because his father was suddenly relocated because of the nature of his work, Kevin knowing no Korean at all, so we became best friends. I met Brian in my first year of middle school, 7th grade. I don’t remember how we became such good friends, but soon I introduced Brian and Kevin and we all became good friends and would help each other in any way we could. 

I glanced at the clock again; they would both be here at six o’clock, more than likely with snacks because those two never seemed to get tired of shopping at the open markets in Seoul. Every time we all went together they acted as if they had never seen half of the things that were displayed at the market. They brought everything from small toys to pieces of a twitching octopus for us to eat. Soon I set up the living room table, laying out a cloth over the marbled stone top of the table and setting up flashcards. These two were making very good progress, I wasn’t sure why they wanted to learn from me, because we already were required to learn English in school, I suppose it was just something to bind us together. 

 

The doorbell soon rang, it was only five fifty-two, and they never arrived early. All of the curtains in the house were always kept closed, and the two doors locked. I crept over to the door, Harvey dashing between my legs to flee under the couch, I peeked out of the small eye hole in the door, and it was a tall figure, wearing a black hood with red around the face. Well, I couldn’t exactly see his face, was that a mask? It looked like an old plague doctor mask, with a white face and a long nose that looked a lot more like the beak of a bird. I sure wasn’t about to open the door, so I just stared at the figure, he lifted his right hand, knocking again. This continued for another five minutes until I heard the sound of Harvey chewing up the side of the couch, quickly I went to shoo him away, quietly reminding him that if my parents caught him doing that he wouldn’t be living with us any longer. After gnawing on the inside of my cheek until an irony taste filled my mouth, blood no doubt, I soon crept back over to the door. Before I could get back to looking through the hole, a rattling knock scared the life out of me; I flinched at the noise, glad only Harvey could see me. I looked out again and the hooded figure was replace with the friendly faces of Brian and Kevin, Brian’s shaggy black hair that he refused to cut was down at his shoulders, and Kevin’s neatly cropped brown hair barely reaching his eyebrows, jeeze we looked like the biggest group of misfits. 

 

Another rattling knock, definitely Brian’s knock, Kevin always rang the doorbell. I opened up the door, nerves thoroughly rattled. Quickly I ushered them in, slamming the door shut and locking it behind them. They stared at me, no doubt confused, even I was confused, had I simply made it up? Was I that stressed? That I was hallucinating? “Hey, you guys didn’t happen to see anyone out there did you?” I asked casually after we were all comfortable, Harvey chewing on Brian’s backpack.

“Well Mrs. Woo was outside watering her Hibiscus plants, but she’s always doing that.” Kevin answered, looking interested as he leaned forward on his elbows.

“Mrs. Woo is always watering her plants, I mean anyone….unusual. You know. Black and red clothing, really tall…plague doctor mask?” I asked, feeling stupid as the amount of impossibility continued to rise as I described the eerie sight I’d witnessed earlier.

 

Brian chewed on his gum, blowing a bubble before answering for Kevin. “Yeah, no. No one was out there, that’s an interesting description though. Sounds like something out of a uh….What’s that author you read a lot? Um… King….something King. Oh! Stephen King! A Stephen King novel.” Brian successfully concluded, making me feel even dumber for suggesting such a person around here. Our neighbors would have none of that; they would’ve rounded up such an unusual person very quickly. Our neighbors were incredibly overly protective and adored my sister and I, no idea why. 

“Yeah but we’ll keep a good eye out. Dad’s in the military and all, so I mean I bet he could search around for something like that!” Kevin nodded, before adding. “And I’ll help; we’ll get this guy or girl in no time and make ‘em apologize for peeping into your house!” 

“Yeah alright guys, let’s just forget it for now.” I chuckled, “Emma will come home soon and we don’t need to freak her out, I think she’s spending some extra time at the library.” I shrugged, soon moving to start my usual English lesson with the two, it soon evolving into eating some kind of weird octopus flavored chocolate they had found in a Japanese food stand, and the week continued on as it always did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scarlett, your average high schooler comes into contact with a creature that slowly forces her to question her choices, life, friends, and much more. Between the every day troubles, and the added troubles Scarlett is trapped into a state of denial, believing this creature to be a hallucination until one day, things get very real. How much will it take for Scarlett to realize that the world around her, is not always what it seems?

It was almost a month after the sight of that creature, or maybe, hallucination was the better term. Nothing had occurred again, so I only told Emma, Brian, and Kevin about what I had seen that afternoon. I was on Christmas break now and had spent the last two days curled up in my bed, only getting up to feed Harvey and anything that I actually had to do. I had gotten deeply involved in a novel by an artist that I couldn’t remember, the book itself was depressing. It was full of death, heartbreak, and there was no one you could trust, I actually really liked the book. Emma was also home, in her room which was decorated an ungodly bright blue, with clothes and food littered from the floor to the window pane. Emma also had a large black lab that she called Spike. The lab picked me over her pretty often because I fed him scraps off of my plate, though I usually put Spike outside because he got too loud and loved to jump on top of people and stain their clothes with drool.

I sighed, soon getting up and heading into the kitchen, setting down a fresh cup of food for Harvey, and some fresh water for both the dog and the rabbit. My parents were both home too, so the house was buzzing with action. My mother was buzzing in the kitchen, my father in his studies scanning over cases. It was Christmas Eve and that always left my mom overworked and under slept, so now she had recruited my sister into helping her cook Christmas dinner, fine with me. I soon went back to my own room and sat at the desk by my window, staring out into the ever changing scenery that unfolded in front of me. People walked by, ride bikes, and drove cars, weaving around each in perfect harmony. I always thought driving was like an art, very precise and it left little room for mistakes.  
As my mind started to drift, a familiar caught my eye. It was that red figure, the man, with the same white mask. This time I didn’t dare look away, we both stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, the whiteness of his mask making my skin crawl and twitch. Spike was growling and snarling by my legs, I needed to silence him or else my parents would come in. What if I looked away and the man was gone? This couldn’t be a hallucination, it was too real, it’s like he was staring into my soul. Maybe I should tell my parents, this is the second time I’ve seen this individual.

"SHUT THAT DOG UP!" My father’s booming voice made its way into my room, causing me to jump and instinctively look at the door, no! I whipped my head back around toward the window and started to scan all of the people. He was gone. Go figure. I groaned, rubbing at my eyes, wanting to just go to bed and forget about this day entirely, about the figure that appeared when I closed my eyes before bed, and the figure that found its ways into my dreams. I was terrified by this point, it was real I wasn’t dreaming, the man had shown back up, we stared at each other for what? Three whole minutes? Was it just sheer randomness? How many strangers did I see that I recognized after a month? I couldn’t think of any, and that was truly bothering me at this point. Before my mother called me down to dinner and went ahead and locked all of my windows, double checking both of them after I was done. I couldn’t shake the feeling, but my mother wouldn’t wait for me to come eat, so I went ahead and headed down to dinner, promising myself to call Brian and Kevin about this later.

“What’s wrong? You’re not eating.” My mother asked, prodding at me and inspecting me closely.  
“I’m just not hungry, mom.” I smiled, watching her brow furrow before she turned to my father, telling him that I might need to go to the doctor if I don’t regain my appetite.  
“Maybe your food is just unappetizing” He joked, before shutting up as my mom went on a rant. I just picked at my food, it was mashed potatoes, rice noodles, and two large cuts of salmon that my mother had baked, then covered with lemon juice and topped with salt and pepper. My mother preferred to turn her food into art, rather than actual food that we could eat without her getting offended.

After dinner I excused myself and went around in each room, locking the windows, double checking them afterwards, just to be safe I promised myself. No one seemed to pay much attention to me roaming around the house, because I had a horrible habit of pacing back and forth, from the dining room all the day to my room. It was sweet when Harvey would hop after me, but he usually just got under my feet and forced me to pick him up and carry him. “Stress petting” Is what everyone called it when I would pace and pet Harvey while I held him closer to me, and once again, I was stress petting the poor animal. I glanced at one of the dozens of my clocks we have in the house, my father collected clocks like they were stamps, and it was only seven thirty. “Dad, can Kevin and Brian come over for half an hour or so?” I asked, pressing most of my weight on my toes as I watched him just shrug and tell me to ask my mother, so I did, and she said yes without missing a beat.

After dialing Kevin’s number, I sat waiting on it to ring. It rang three times before Brian answered it. “Yes, what do you need, Scar?” Brian shouted, of course he wasn’t really shouting, he just had an incredibly booming voice that made his whispers seem like how you and I would talk outside in a crowded area.

“Hey, are you two busy?”

“Not really, we were about to go to the market, want to go? Kevin’s dad is giving us some Won to spend up there!” Brain asked, I could almost see the two of them drooling over the sights of fresh fish, various meats, and unmarked sweets.

“Uh, yeah I guess so, what time do you want me to come over, or do you want me to meet you guys up at Namdaemun?” I offered, I actually lived closer to the market than either of them, so it would give me time to get ready before we all met up.

“Let’s just meet up, Kevin said that his dad is willing to give you a ride home, since ladies shouldn’t be walking in the streets after dark.”

“Alright, give him my thanks; I’ll see you in ten minutes.” I said, hanging up the phone and walking downstairs, updating my parents on where I was going and when I would be home. Of course they said it was fine and my mother reminded me to thank Kevin’s father for the ride home, even if I didn’t accept it. I promised I would and headed out the door before having to head back inside and throw on a huge faux fur jacket. The snow made an endless white blanket, though the sidewalk was covered in footprints and bicycle paths next to them. It was colder than I expected outside, it almost always stayed below 0 Celsius, but it rarely snowed so the new sight was very enjoyable. “We might get a white Christmas after all.” I said aloud, to no one in particular with a small smile, my mother always talked about how she’d love to see one of them.

The markets here always smelled strongly of fish, blood, and occasionally you would catch the scent of something sweet. You could buy dozens of things here, from food to jewelry, even different types of fabrics. There are thousands of shops, all crushed into about thirty buildings, along with hundreds of street vendors. It was crowded, no matter what day of the week you went on. The best time to go was at night, late at night when most people who had to work were in bed.

Brian and Kevin were both waiting for me at a food shop, both of them eating a small bowl of mandu gook, which is just a simple dumpling soup that they liked to ramp up the price of during winter because most people would pay a lot for a hot bowl of soup on the way home. The two grinned, waving me down and holding out a small bowl of soup they had gotten me, well I couldn’t decline at this point. I thanked them and tipped the bowl, draining it quickly and setting the bowl in the trash. “Jeeze are they not feeding you at home?” Brian asked with a chuckle, collecting his and Kevin’s bowl, also setting them in the trash.

“I wasn’t very hungry during dinner. So that’s why I ca—-“ I stopped, the two obviously weren’t listening. They’d set their sights on a huge stand that had everything from Coca Cola, to cheeseburgers. It was an authentic western restaurant that sold people “American” dishes, the only good thing they had was their cokes. Biting back a long sigh I followed the two inside, I was a little surprised at the remodeling they had done, most of the restaurant was in something you could try to call English. It read “Come One, Come Many. Real American Foods Boughts Here!” In bright red letters that were neatly painted against the wooden interior of the restaurant. They walked around for what seemed to be forever, buying things from nachos to an American flag decorated cupcake, which came with miniature flags stuck on the tops of them. The cashier was a small white woman with long blonde hair, which was a rare sight in the middle of Seoul. She smiled sympathetically at me and I returned the smile, then she slid forward a small slit of paper that had about fifteen smaller bits of paper inside of it.

“Do you want to win a trip to New York City? All of your expenses would be paid for, and you could take four people with you.” She added, I squinted at her nametag, it read Jane in blocky and squished writing. Before I could protest Kevin was signing himself, Brian, and me up, paying the woman an extra three won fee. I didn’t bother arguing against it, I’d just get signed up anyway. I waited patiently, staring out the window; a smaller shop offered a dog soup that Kevin always looked horrified when I offered to buy him a bowl. I just stared at the rush of people, men, women, kids; you could see everyone for about a split second before it all descended into the chaos of everyday life. I just yawned, thinking if there was anything that I actually needed from any of these shops. Nope. I was good to go; I needed to talk to Brian and Kevin about the man though. I was so stupid, why come out into public when a man is stalking me.

“Oh I bet we’ll win, c’mon Scar, let’s go, let’s go.” Kevin said, giddy as ever.

“Actually I wanted to talk to you guys, let’s go to an indoor café. I’ll pay don’t worry, but Brian don’t break me.” I warned, smiling a little bit before we headed off to a tiny café that we always ate at. The people knew us and were usually very kind, but I think it’s because we looked American. If you’re an American, most places will worship the ground you walk on and treat you to numerous dishes “on the house”. That seemed to be the only English phrase that this café knew, and the Americans loved it. So we sat down and I leaned forward before recalling all of the details, the three minute encounter seeming to take ages for me to recount. They just leaned forward and seemed interested at my every word, Brian was no longer making jokes or pretending it was something out of my Stephen King novels.


End file.
